


Heeding a Lesson (or: Disaster Prevention 101)

by Tedronai



Series: Everything Is Better with Asmodean [4]
Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Asmodean Lives AU, Book 06: Lord of Chaos, Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3235784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tedronai/pseuds/Tedronai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"You've talked to Taim about this, right?" </i><br/>Chapter 42 fix-it, with added communication and less cringeworthy mishandling of situations by Rand al'Thor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heeding a Lesson (or: Disaster Prevention 101)

**Author's Note:**

> (Yeah, this AU isn't dead.) So herein we have one of my biggest pet peeves in the entire series... fixed. Finally.

“You have talked to Taim about this, right?” Asmodean asked.

“What?” Al’Thor looked up at the Forsaken, slipping the velvet pouch into his pocket. “What are you talking about?”

Asmodean stared at the Dragon Reborn. “I take that’s a no,” he said. He set his harp on the table, suppressing a sigh. “I wish I could say I’m surprised. You’ve learned nothing, have you?”

Al’Thor frowned. “Get to the point if you have one,” he said, a sharp, irritable edge to his voice. “Or quit wasting my time. I have things to do.”

“Like visiting the farm?” Asmodean asked. “I heard you talking with Lord Bashere. As a side note, you do realise you could ask me for help with the Old Tongue? I dare say I know it better than Bashere.” He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture when al’Thor opened his mouth to speak. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. My point is — the Asha’man. Your plan for the students’ new ranks. You don’t think you should consult Taim about this?”

“I never thought about…” al’Thor began, but trailed off mid sentence. He was still frowning but now the expression was more thoughtful than annoyed.

“I can see that,” Asmodean replied wryly. He shook his head slightly. “I don’t have much to teach you about leadership, that was never really my area, but Moiraine Sedai knew what she was talking about and she taught you better than this.” He grimaced. “Demandred could explain it better, I’m sure… That is, if he were inclined to talk to you about the chain of command instead of obliterating you. Which is unlikely.”

Al’Thor sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation. “Alright, alright! Enough already. I get your point.” He sat heavily in the chair opposite Asmodean and looked intently at the Forsaken. “So how do you propose I should go about this?”

Asmodean blinked; he had not expected to be asked, and although he had a solution ready, he had to mentally readjust the output into something suitable for an answer to a direct question. “Talk to him,” he said. “Talk to Taim about it. Ask his opinion. If not on the ranks themselves, at least on how it would be best to present them to the students. If you phrase it like that, he’s more likely to appreciate the fact that you took the time to consult him, than to be offended that he wasn’t consulted about the system itself. But you can’t just walk over him completely, not after making it clear that everything about the students is his responsibility.”

Al’Thor didn’t look happy about the realisation — he generally didn’t when the realisation involved the words ‘you can’t’ — but he was neither stupid nor unreasonable. “I suppose you’re right,” he said eventually. “I’ll talk to Taim.”

 

* * *

 

 

“What’s this Black Tower I keep hearing about?” al’Thor asked as he followed Taim into the farmhouse. “I’m not sure I like the sound of it.”

Taim glanced at Asmodean before replying, and Asmodean got the absurd impression that the Saldaean wanted to roll his eyes. “A name the students use,” he said smoothly. “We couldn’t keep calling it ‘the farm’ forever.” His mouth twitched in that peculiar almost-smile of his. “I’m sure you can see that.” When al’Thor didn’t respond instantly, he went on, “Is this going to be a problem?”

Eventually al’Thor shook his head. “Let it stand.”

Another almost-smile, and Taim nodded. “Very well. Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Al’Thor hesitated for a heartbeat. “There’s something I want to do but I need your help.” For a moment Taim looked almost startled, but he recovered quickly and waved a ‘go on’. “Like the… the _Black Tower_ ,” al’Thor went on, “the students need a name, too. Something to call themselves, other than ‘men who can channel’.”

“I have thought of that,” Taim said. “What do you propose?”

Al’Thor frowned slightly at the ‘propose’ part and for a moment Asmodean thought his pride and dislike of Taim might get the better of him, but he controlled his temper admirably. He pulled the pouch of the silver Sword pins out of his pocket. “Here’s what I have in mind…”

 

Asmodean listened as al’Thor sketched the details of his plan to Taim, who listened without interrupting. It was next to impossible to tell whether Taim liked what he was hearing — which likely meant that he didn’t hate it, because he wasn’t that difficult to read when he was angry. When al’Thor finished, Taim didn’t speak at once.

“Asha’man…” he said after a moment, as if tasting the word. “I like the sound of that.”

“I’m glad you approve,” al’Thor said wryly.

Taim didn’t grace the remark with a reply. “How do you want to go about the announcement?” he asked instead. “Gathering the students won’t take more than a minute if you want to speak to them yourself. It would do them good to see you in person. It’s been a while since you had time to visit; most of them wouldn’t even recognise you… As you saw with Torval.”

Al’Thor grimaced at the mention of Torval — Asmodean quite shared the sentiment — and nodded. “I’ll speak to them.”


End file.
